Currently a product like dehydrated avocado in pieces does not exist, nor does the processes that allows to obtain it without browning and oxidation of its compounds.
The following documents provide background of products somehow related thereto but that are in the end completely different to this invention:
Method of obtaining avocado powder under patent application number WO/2006/088344.
Drying of the avocado: stabilized flour of avocado pulp, processes and products, under patent number MX230112.
Other documents referring to avocado processing techniques are as follows:
Method of processing avocado pulp, under U.S. Pat. No. 5,384,147.
Stabilized guacamole and method for making same, under U.S. Pat. No. 5,871,794.
Process for producing frozen avocados, under U.S. Pat. No. 6,358,555.
Method for processing avocados, under U.S. Pat. No. 4,629,629.
Method for stabilizing fruit pulp or vegetable flesh, particularly avocado pulp, under patent number EP 1474000.
Next, the main preservation methods of avocado can be summarised as follows:
Cooling of an entire avocado, which means harvesting the fruit before it reaches the climacteric maximum (harvest ripeness), cold transporting to inhibit the ripening process and requiring high volume transport and warehousing.
Cooling of harvest ripe avocado using a ripening inhibitor product such as 1-Methylcyclopropene (1-MCP), which is commercialised in water-soluble powder form under the registered trademark SmartFresh.
Processing and freezing of avocado using preservatives, which alter some of the organoleptic properties such as taste, colour and texture, and on the other hand it affects the nutritional properties of the product as well.
A dehydrated avocado product in pieces is unique and novel since it preserves all the original properties of the avocado in terms of flavour, colour, smell and composition, with the great advantage of being in a ready to eat condition.
The process described below avoids avocado browning and also oxidation of its oil.
Another advantage of this process is that it is carried out in a rapid and simple manner, guaranteeing a quality end product with an extended shelf life.